The Binding of souls to satan in the Name of Christ!
By Mervin Yoder
Part 1
In our early days of marriage my wife worked in a bank and was trained how to spot counterfeit money. It's absolutely impossible to learn about all the kinds of counterfeit money, the bank said, because there are millions. But if you study the real thing and learn all its intricacies, you will immediately notice when something isn't right. The way to discern wrong is by knowing what is right.
In the same way, we discern false teaching in the church by being thoroughly familiar with the real thing. We look to the Word of God and to the Holy Ghost. I could talk about this subject for the next six weeks and tell you all I have been through, but you have something better than that--the Holy Ghost within you. You don't need any man to teach you, the Bible says. No man can be with you and watch over you 24 hours a day, but the Holy Ghost teaches you all things.
I have to confess that while I was involved in the charismatic movement I denied the voice of the Holy Ghost. When I saw something that didn't feel quite right--something contrary to the "real thing"--I pushed past my reservations and went along. That's how easy it is to get enticed into deception.
I pray the Lord will give us discerning eyes, that we would embrace and guard that which is holy and true. If we embrace the Word of God and the Holy Ghost within us, jealously guarding them from those who would take them from us, then when the deceiver comes we will not want anything to do with him, though he be disguised as an angel of light.
Though I must mention names in this study, I'm not trying to shoot at anybody or raise up one person in the place of another. Sometimes leaders must be mentioned by name, just as Paul had to warn against Philetus and Alexander. And though we must preach against much that is deceptive in the charismatic movement, we are not denying the baptism of the Holy Ghost, the evidence of speaking in tongues, or the other gifts. The word "charismatic" itself is a good word, taken from "charisma". Another good word for it is grace, a divine influence within a man's heart. This is usually what people are seeking after, but the movement leads them astray.
II Thessalonians 2 provides a good description of the charismatic movement. Paul exhorts us not to be shaken in mind or troubled, "neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us...." Don't be shaken by what someone preaches, even if all the right people are quoted, as people in Paul's day may have quoted Paul--a "letter as from us". We are known in America for how we like to quote others. We quote Swaggart or Hagin or Copeland, but we seldom quote Jesus. That's how we get in trouble.
"Let no man deceive you by any means," Paul continues. Christ Himself, when asked what the sign of his coming would be, told his disciples to "take heed that no man deceive you." With our television, radio, and mega-churches today, we have literally millions of people around the world who can be deceived in a moment by one man. Robert Schuller is right now the most watched man in America. He stands hand in hand with the charismatic movement, though he is better known for touting positive thinking and mind power, key demonic deceptions. He supports Norman Vincent Peale, the fatherof the "positive attitude" movement, and Guideposts magazine, a key purveyor of the idea. Nearly every Christian home has Guideposts, Mennonite and Amish included. But it is full of New Age material.
Paul says the day of Christ shall not come, "except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." - I'm not sure all that the Bible means when it talks about the day of Christ, but its plainest meaning is the returning of Christ to catch away His church. In the charismatic mind, however, it means something more. They think the day of Christ is the day in which Christ gives dominion, authority, and power to man to rule the earth and be above all things in the earth. A big push behind the charismatic movement is to rule the earth and dominate the government. Though the scripture refers here and elsewhere to the millennial reign of Christ, the charismatics say that satan is bound already and God has given us full authority over all things in the world.
The scriptures about us serving as kings and priests are favorites among charismatics. They seek to set up a kingdom in this earth. But Thessalonians says there will be a falling away first. I believe we are full hilt in the middle of such a falling away, and widespread false teaching and deception is evidence of such.
"Deceive" means to seduce wholly or completely. Generally we find that people in the charismatic movement aren't in it part way. They are completely given over to it. During my four or five years in the movement I was seduced wholly into deception. I'm thankful the Lord didn't come back then, because I don't know if I would have gone.
I believe many in this movement are reprobate, completely given over to lies. Some have blasphemed the Holy Ghost and are beyond bringing back. Though many are sincere and can be reached, most will not be reached. Our desire is first to keep people from falling into that deception, and second to reach those we can who have already fallen. Our talking about them or putting them down won't do any good, but our praying, fasting, preaching, and seeking after them through the Holy Ghost may help bring them out.
The "falling away" Paul mentions simply means "defection from the truth". Such defection is usually very subtle.
The charismatic movement doesn't come roaring in, saying "Here I am! I'm going to lead you astray!" No, it leads to a gradual falling away. I believe that most people in the charismatic movement at one time knew God, because it is impossible to fall away from something you haven't been to. So I believe the scriptures here aren't talking about the deceived Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jehovah's Witnesses, or Mormons. Most of them have been born into deception and have been walking in it all their lives. The falling away will involve those in the authentic church who have known and served God.
The Bible says many shall follow their pernicious ways, many shall be deceived, and many will enter through the wide gate, the gate of destruction. Few will enter the narrow gate and be saved.
- The word "deceive" is a two-part word, meaning:
- 1) to take from a point of origin, and
- 2) to cheat.
In I Timothy 4, Paul again talks about the latter times and those who "shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils". The word "depart" means to "remove and instigate a revolt." The spirit behind the charismatic movement eventually leads people into rebellion and then revolt against anything that is holy and true. It is the same spirit that satan had as Lucifer in heaven when he said, "I will exalt myself above the throne of God," and he led a revolt wherein a third of the holy angels of God were thrown from heaven.
Think about that revolt. There was no sin there at the time and no temptation, and the very presence of God filled the place. Yet Lucifer was able to entice a third of the angels into open rebellion. That's quite a revolt. Today we see in a glass darkly. We can't bring the Holy Ghost out of a closet and say, "Here He is. This is what He looks like." We can't provide a diploma of salvation that proves we have it.
We must walk by faith. But Lucifer's followers had no such handicaps. They could see clearly, yet they still chose to rebel. If satan could accomplish such a thing in heaven, how much easier is he able to do it today!
That word "depart" is used again in II Timothy 2:19:". . . let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." How becoming is it for a Christian to be an adulterer. To remain in drunkenness, or in lying, or in stealing? The idea is ridiculous. A Christ-like person departs from iniquity, from his old lifestyle and his old way. The Bible says when you are born again old things pass away, behold all things become new.
A Christian doesn't live in iniquity. He departs from it, he flees it, he runs from it.
In turn, when a Christian departs from the faith in I Timothy 4, he does the same in reverse: he flees from the faith and leads a revolt against it. He does this by "giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." The term "giving heed" means to pay attention to and adhere to, and it's related to the word "cleaving" as when a man leaves his father and mother to cleave to his wife. Get the picture of what is happening:
Those in the charismatic movement have left the Father and cleaved unto another spirit and another doctrine and are now setting up their own principles and standards, walking in their own ways. The charismatic movement is self-seeking, self-exalting, and self-perpetrating and does away with the cross of Christ.
Paul delves into this further in II Corinthians 11:3: "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." The charismatic movement does not dwell in the simplicity of Christ.
Neither do many other denominations, for that matter. The simplicity of Christ is simply this:
He was the last Adam, the Son of God sent to die and pardon us from iniquity and resurrect us into newness of life, so that we are no longer slaves to sin to walk in it, but now we walk in obedience to Jesus Christ, with his resurrection power in our lives.
How subtly that message is corrupted and added to!
How often we hear people preach another Jesus.
Verse 13 talks about false apostles and deceitful workers "transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." The false prophet looks like Jesus. The charismatic movement sounds like God. Those in it do not deny the Bible. They are not anti-God or anti-church or even anti-Jesus. But they are anti-Christ.
You see, there is a difference. In I John we're told to test the spirits, because the spirit of antichrist is already in the world. Jesus, born of a woman, was simply God in the flesh. But as Christ he is the Messiah, preaching and ministering and delivering from sin.
Even the heathen celebrate the birth of Jesus and marvel over the baby in the manger.
The Muslims accept Jesus and call Him a great teacher. The Mormons named their church after Him. But they don't accept Him as Christ.
Who is Christ?
He is the one who came up out of the water and heard God the Father say, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Then He went forth preaching repentance and bringing deliverance unto salvation.Christ is prophet, priest, and king. As prophet He is the express image of God, described in Hebrews 1. He is the outshining of God. Whatever Jesus did, God was behind it. When He suffered on the cross, God was behind it. He is the revelation of God. As priest He is the only door into salvation, the only door into heaven. He is the only door.
Some people try to go around the cross by all sorts of things: positive thinking, church membership, church dress code, and so on. But the cross of Christ is the only way. Third, Christ is king. That's what Christ means. When people are anti-Christ, they are unwilling to submit to the kingship and lordship of Christ.
If there is any area in your life that isn't submitted to the lordship of Christ, then you, too, are anti-Christ.
In the charismatic movement today, you do whatever feels good. You have your movies, your television, your lifestyle, your desires, your second and third wife-you do whatever you want, because the kingship of Christ isn't recognized. The charismatic movement today is anti-Christ.
Paul warns again in Galatians 1 that some would pervert the gospel. In verse 7 he makes this strong statement: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." That's why the true believer must not associate with certain people and ministries.
You cannot take that which is holy--the anointing of God and the ministry of Gods Spirit--and join it to something that is accursed, something that is banned from the presence of God. A false gospel is false even if an angel from heaven preaches it, Paul says, just as in I Corinthians 11 he said that satan can transform himself into an angel of light
How can we tell what is of Christ and what is anti-Christ?
The answer, as we said at the beginning, is to give ourselves wholly to Christ, to know the real thing so fully and so intimately that when the counterfeit comes along we will spot it immediately. Next month we will look at specific characteristics of the charismatic movement that are anti-Christ, and how they contrast with the Christ of scripture.
the Christ of scripture.
Last month we looked at the deception of false teachers as described in the scriptures. Such false teaching has an immediate and often very drastic impact on a person's behavior. It's these manifestations of charismatic behavior we want to examine now. Upon entering the charismatic movement, a man very quickly drops his high standards and qualities of character,
dressing in new ways, bringing in television, watching sports, and attending movies and concerts. Everything is okay. The seduction is powerful and takes captive the very ones who think they are free.
One of the biggest things you will notice about charismatic people is their singing. The flesh, not the spirit, glories in their singing. Contrast a charismatic "revival" to a Spirit-driven revival such as the three-year outpouring in Azuza Street beginning in 1903. Folks gathered in an old shack, a building the city had condemned, and began to seek God. They went
at it all day long for nearly three years. An old black man, Brother Seymour, sat at a table in front with his head in a box so people couldn't see him when he preached. There were times when outsiders would call the fire company, having sighted fire on the roof of the building, and the firemen would show up but there was no physical fire. It was an outpouring of God's Spirit. The people embraced repentance, holiness, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Occasionally a man would rise up to prophesy in the flesh, but he would have to sit down halfway through his prophecy--without anyone saying a word--because the presence of God was there and would not allow it. The Bible says in I Corinthians 1:29: "No flesh can glory in the
presence of God".
The charismatic movement is exactly opposite. Flesh glories in it and moves in it. One prophecy that came forth from the Azuza Street revival was this: in the end times there will he a strong emphasis on praise and worship to a God that people no longer pray to. That prophecy is finding fulfillment in the charismatic movement. You may enter a charismatic church on a given Sunday morning and find an entire service of praise and worship with no preaching. They prefer praise over preaching because such "praise" gratifies the flesh. You may find every instrument you can think of with singers galore up front. The music will be repetitious, over and over for long periods of time, and people will run to the aisles and begin to dance and
shout with hands in the air and all kinds of dramatics. They now have choreographed dancing in which the women come out in leotards and make elaborate movements that they claim is worship unto God.
Charismatics are hung up on choruses. They don't like hymns. I heard one man say, "I don't like those old hymns. They talk about the blood and the cross, about suffering and death, and they make you feel just awful." Many of their choruses don't even apply to today. They talk about a realm of ruling and reigning that God has not allowed man to enter into in this life. But they sing it because that is their longing and dream.
Their worship services generally reach a point of climax or ecstasy where people believe that God will do anything and then someone is motivated to prophesy. The prophecies always hinge on the blessing and prosperity of the Lord: "The Lord would have you know today that He is going to bless you. He is going to bless your going in and your coming out; He is going to bless you in the field and in the city. He is going to minister Himself unto you and bring you riches and prosperity. He is going to raise you in height above all nations." And on and on they go.
But while people sing these light and airy choruses and talk about blessing and prosperity, they harbor sin in their lives. Homosexuality, adultery, fornication, lying--such sins are in the congregation while everybody is freely lifting hands. No wonder they stick with praises and stay away from preaching. The Bible says it is the foolishness of preaching that will save
the soul. When the Word is preached there is conviction and the Holy Ghost moves in. But you can go into a service with guitars, drums, and singing and, though laden with sin, lift your hands and feel everything is fine. You believe that because someone passed out on the floor or someone spoke in a tongue and prophesied, God was there.
Praise and worship today is a business. The choruses are produced methodically. You can even sign up with a club and get a new cassette every month. I talked to a man whose church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, produced choruses for the market. He was a minister of music--a full-time job that paid about $30,000. The Bible doesn't even talk about such a ministry. The fivefold
ministry as laid out in the scriptures includes apostle, prophet, pastor, evangelist, and teacher. But the charismatics have made it a sixfold ministry and added the minister of music. This man was one of two ministers of music in that church. He had eons of education in music, and that was what qualified him for the position--not the calling of God.
He gave me one of their cassettes. "This one doesn't have a lot of power behind it," he admitted. "You see, we have a school here, and every student who took the music course had to produce a chorus for this praise and worship tape to get a passing grade."
Producing choruses to get a passing grade isn't much different from all the other reasons the charismatics produce choruses: to meet the schedule for the monthly release, to try for a big hit, to aim for something new and exciting. The words aren't born beneath a burden. They aren't born from fasting and prayer or from trial and persecution, as so many of the hymns
were. They are born out of materialism and other fleshly concerns. The charismatic movement is more than a movement. It's a spirit that grabs hold of people, that manifests itself through many different faces. It's hard to tell what it looks like because it's in so many different churches: the Catholic, the Lutheran, the Episcopal, the Baptist, the Mennonite, and virtually every other denomination. It proclaims unity among all the churches of the world, just like the anti-Christ described in scripture
brings false unity. It has a powerful, world-wide influence.
Charismatics become wrapped up in churches and preachers instead of Christ. They are always quoting man instead of God--Hagin and Copeland instead of the gospel writers. Often they are completely engulfed in the church and its
activities.
The pastor is the main figurehead and decision maker in the church. For all the talk about the fivefold ministry, you never see it manifested. The pastor is usually the one who started the group, and he's the one who is quoted and followed along with the national figureheads such as Hagin and Copeland.
The charismatics also make men feminine and women masculine, the exact opposite of what God lays out in I Corinthians 11. God says man is the image and the glory of God, and woman is the image and glory of man. But in the charismatic camp you see the roles of men and women flip-flopped, just as they are in the world.
The charismatics have taken scriptures completely out of context to develop their idea of "confession": by your words you are condemned and by your words you are justified. They point to the scripture in Proverbs, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he," and twist it to mean that man can find power to be what he wants through his thoughts. Kenneth Hagin took Romans 10:9-10, where Paul says that with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, and applied it to every area of life. So if you are poor, you need only to believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that you are rich, just the same way you got saved. If you need healing you simply believe and
confess. Instead of the emphasis being on God and his work, it's on man and what man says and thinks. If you say something negative around them, they'll rebuke you in a minute. "Oh, don't say that. It's going to come back on
you." Man is suddenly brought into bondage by every word he says.
In a deceiving way, they have taken away the lordship of Jesus Christ and the sovereignty of God and the fact that He is the giver of gifts and He chooses what is right for each of us. In his book about faith, Kenneth Hagin has a chapter entitled "Writing Your Own 'Ticket." When you get on a train, Hagin says, the conductor comes along looking for your ticket. And when you can provide it, that proves to him that you have the right to he there and the right to take in whatever is on the train: the comfort, the food, and whatever else you need. He says that God has now given us the license to write our own ticket, and if we confess what we need, the provision comes to us through the power of our confession.
Those who follow such teaching are usually just speaking the words without the reality of God behind them. They aren't truly baptized with the Holy Ghost but have only "confessed" it and are speaking in tongues as someone taught them. There is incredible emphasis on tongues in the charismatic movement, and if you aren't given tongues in a moment, then they try to
teach them to you. A couple that I know were seeking the baptism of the Holy Ghost in a Mennonite church in Big Valley, Pennsylvania. Someone told them to "just do baby talk." They got up and left. I have heard people being coached to say phrases real fast, such as "tie your tie, untie your bow tie." Say it real fast and you'll get the knack of speaking in tongues. When people receive tongues like that, they haven't received any real anointing.
They do not have the Holy Ghost or the discernment the Holy Ghost brings. They are worse off than before, because now they think they have the Spirit in their lives and they no longer seek Him. One of the gifts of the Spirit is a discernment of true and false spirits. Lacking that gift, those who have been tricked into speaking in tongues are even more prey to the
deception of the charismatics.
Paul Yonge Cho is very famous for his 500,000-member church. He talks about being impregnated with a vision, and after he becomes pregnant with it, he confesses it because it is within him, and it simply comes to pass. In America he is very popular and teaches pastors how to build a church. He is proof that there is power in the charismatic movement -- many things these people believe and confess do indeed come to pass. But the power is from hell. The charismatic movement is not something to laugh at or scorn, for it has abundant power to deceive and destroy.
Another emphasis of the charismatics is the display of the "gifts" of the Spirit in their services. On a Sunday morning people walk out discouraged if somebody didn't pass out or stand up and prophesy or speak in tongues and interpret.
The more people fall on the floor and have tongues and prophecies, the more the Spirit has been among them. That's their qualification for a spiritual move of God. But the Bible tells me that when in the Old Testament the glory of the Lord filled a place, all the people fell on their faces. Nobody could stand to minister. That's quite a contrast to what the charismatic churches expect. Even when people do fall down, it's not from the Spirit of God. I see them look before they fall. I see them pushed so hard they almost do a backward flip. Such tactics are human efforts to imitate a move of the Spirit. Naturally when the people get back up, they don't get up changed.
They go down an adulterer and they get up one.
In every third sentence a charismatic speaks you hear "The Lord told me. God told me." That's their way of putting power behind their opinions. Many of these preachers were called at one time and had the anointing of God on their ministry, but they have been seduced and deceived and now are simply charismatic. They still have a lot of natural eloquence, so when they add "The Lord told me" to their well-stated ideas, who can argue?
Such preachers also like to lay hands on you as they prophesy. They make people feel good with their prophecies, looking for popularity and big offerings. They will say to a man whose lust for material things has gotten him into debt: "God will bless you as you give to him." So the man gives his offering and feels good as he looks forward to his blessing. "Ah, I'm going
to he blessed. I'm going to get out of debt." Isaiah warned that there will he prophets that God has not spoken to who will come and give the people a momentary peace by what they prophesy. They will never tell you about sin and repentance and separating your life. They won't do like Agabus did to Paul when he took his coat and bound it around him, saying "The one that is the wearer of this cloak shall thus go bound to Jerusalem". No, they give only momentary peace through a fleshly, feel-good message.
I watched Benny Hinn on television this past year as he preached against the spirit of poverty that binds so many people. He said it is God's will for us to be prosperous, not poor. At the end of his long beautiful message, he drove in with his solution: "Many of you here tonight are bound by the spirit of poverty, and we are going to break it. We are going to take an
offering and for this spirit of poverty to be broken in your life, you have to write out the biggest check you can and put it in the offering in obedience to God. If your wife is not here, write a check out for her. If you are watching by television, write out your check and send it in. By so doing the spirit of poverty will be bound." He said further that those who didn't do it would be cursed. As people looked at him, this wonderful man of God with "Thus saith the Lord" behind his words, who could withstand him?
The solution Benny Hinn offered wasn't the blood of Jesus. If there is a spirit of poverty like he described, and I believe sometimes there is, people will be set free only through the blood of Jesus. The Jesus taught by the charismatics is not the Jesus of scripture, the Jesus who suffered on the cross and calls on us to take up our own crosses and follow Him. Don't
be deceived by the rosy promises and momentary peace offered by false teachers! Look out for the angels of light who look and feel so wonderful! Only a firm grasp of scripture and reliance on the true Spirit of God can protect us from the deceits of the enemy. Next month we will examine the theology of the charismatics and see how that theology deviates from the
plain truth of scripture.
Part 3
The Seduction of Christianity is a well-written book coming against such false doctrines. One example it gives is Kenneth Copeland's assertion that just as dogs beget dogs and cats beget cats, so God begets God. Using the scripture in Hebrews 11, Kenneth Copeland says the world was framed by the Word of God, and God has given us his same spirit of faith; if we truly recognized and realized our power, we could create another earth in the same way God did. The only thing preventing us is our lack of faith and lack of confession. A similar claim is that we can create money and confess it into being "Ye shall be as gods."
Their flagrant misuse of power can be seen in how they command the Holy Ghost. A charismatic man came into one of the churches in PA and tried to contaminate the group. He would stand the people in a circle, holding hands, and say, "Now the Holy Ghost is going to go from my left around this circle and he is going to touch you." An Amish man was telling me about the circle and how he and others got knocked to the floor. A power indeed went through them, but not the power of God, for their purposes were contrary to the Word. We can't dictate to the Holy Ghost.
The charismatics invented the health and wealth doctrine and overemphasize the work of healing. Some of them can hardly preach on anything but healing. But though they fall on the floor, and at times their healings seem to be real, many of them get up and still have to go to the doctor because they don't get healed. Their confession of healing is perpetual but it lacks in
results. I certainly believe in healing and the miracles of God, but the way they go about it is contrary to scripture.
II Timothy 3:5-7 says, "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." Some of their leaders were known in their crusades for filling the first two
or three rows with all women. These men had captivated such women who, led away by their lusts, were looking and longing after the men. Jimmy Swaggart at one time preached against the charismatic movement and against Benny Hinn
specifically. He preached holiness. But when he was caught in his sin, he turned to the charismatics for help, and they took him in. Now he is preaching with Benny Hinn and recently said he had seen God move in the greatest way ever through their joint ministry. In his magazine he now sells long golden earrings with crosses, and his wife is completely made up, like
Tammy Faye Bakker II.
Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.Charismatics are constantly on the go, always talking about health and prosperity--but never coming to any truth in it. They often live hypocritical lives, bragging that God has prospered them and accusing the poor of living in sin while they carry incredible amounts of debt. They flash their watches and jewelry, large cars, large homes, and anything else that is gaudy and glittering believing such things to be a sign of
spirituality.
In James 5 the Bible says, "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last day." This is a
description of today's charismatics.
Another popular doctrine in their midst is the "dominion" or "kingdom now" theology. Most of the leaders do not believe in the catching away of the church. Tommy Reid and Earl Polk stand at the forefront of this belief. They deny the truth of I Thessalonians 4 and I Corinthians 15 and simply believe that a day is coming when they will begin to take over all branches of government and authority in the world. They will become the lawyers, the politicians, the presidents, the congressmen, and the kings, and they will rule the world from those places of authority. They will Christianize the world.
The Bible tells us that satan is the god of this world and it can't be Christianized. "Come out from among them and be separate," the Word says. Be different. But they think they will gain dominion over the world so that Jesus can come back and they can reign with Him. They mention nothing about tribulation, nothing about persecution, and nothing about the destruction of the world.
Believing that satan is now bound, they say that Jesus has given us all dominion and all authority that man lost in the Garden of Eden. When Jesus rose from the dead, he took dominion back from satan and returned it to men, where originally it had been bestowed. There will not need to be a catching away of the church because the church will take over the world.
II Timothy 2:16 tells us how we should respond to such teaching "But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness." You see, if we believe we are going to take over the world we will grow in pride and power--the vain teaching will lead to yet more ungodliness. God calls us to live in repentance and humility, not in pride and power.
Paul had just given the truth of the matter in II Timothy 2:12: "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him." Where do you find the charismatics talking about suffering? Instead they say, "If we stand up in power, then we shall reign." Jesus directly opposes their ideas when he says in Matthew 5 that the meek shall inherit the earth. And in Luke 22 he tells his disciples
not to be like the Gentiles, who lord it over others, but to be servants, the least of all, and then the Father will give us a kingdom in heaven.
The doctrine of unity is another favorite with charismatics. In their circles you will find Pentecostals, Baptists, Catholics, Mennonites, and on and on. People from all denominations go after their vain teaching. They are willing to drop all differences and all doctrine for the sake of unity. And they especially drop the doctrine of holiness, since living a holy life by
necessity separates you from others and prohibits the unity they cherish. The Bible talks very little about unity. In Ephesians 4 it says there is a unity of faith and a unity of spirit, and in Psalm 133 it says "how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." That's about the extent of it. But the Bible speaks at length about holiness. We must
never compromise doctrine or holiness under the guise of unity. True Christians put a premium on holiness, but to the charismatics it is only something nice to sing about--getting into the Holy of Holies where God gives you dreams and revelations. But the Bible talks about holiness in our daily lives--without holiness in our lives no man shall see the Lord. And
I'm not just referring to their dress, their hair, their makeup, their gold, and their jewelry. Those are simply the fruits of the unholiness in their hearts. Theirs is a spiritual sin that separates them from God's holiness. I heard with my own ears Benny Hinn say he stood alongside the Pope in the Vatican and preached, and God moved in a mighty way and began doing
miracles. He brought the Pope together with Christ and the miracles of God, deceiving thousands. The Roman Catholic church is the harlot in the earth, corrupting the church. But now most everyone is thinking the Pope is okay.
Robert Schuller is another great fan of the Pope. And now Jimmy Swaggart is with them. He was the Pentecostal voice of holiness in years gone by, but now he is with those who are unconcerned about holiness.
Many of you may be shocked to hear that when Billy Graham, the most famous evangelist in America, went to Russia he consulted with the Pope on how to minister to the Russians. Billy Graham is a false prophet, joining hands with the Catholics and every other denomination. One thing that makes him popular with the charismatics is his once saved, always saved doctrine, not bringing people to repentance. When Billy Graham speaks, everybody listens; everybody thinks he is a wonderful man. But listen to what he said in a stadium in Mexico City, Mexico, in front of 110,000 Mexicans and over
worldwide radio and television. The Assemblies of God had been there and done extensive work in bringing people out of their Catholic darkness into the light of the truth, into salvation. But Billy Graham said they should return to their mother church, the catholic church, and worship God there.
The Assemblies of God missionaries had left the comfort of America, and many had even given their lives, shot and killed for their preaching and then one man with one word tore down all their work.
Luke 7:22 has a word for false teachers: "Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers arc cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached." Preaching to the poor is one of the qualifications for the anointing of the Spirit. That
shows you how the charismatics are false. They don't preach their prosperity message in Haiti or Nicaragua, which is now the poorest country in the western hemisphere. They preach it in America, and like Fred Price take Christian cruises every year and invite anyone with two or three thousand dollars to go along and eat fine meals. But when you preach to the poor you don't get offerings like that.
Verse 23 continues: "And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." People were offended by Jesus and put him on the cross, and anyone who preaches Jesus is going to cause offense as well. If we preach the truth and oppose what is false, then the world will oppose us. We won't be popular. This verse says we are blessed if we don't stop at the offense, but keep on preaching.
Billy Graham, on the other hand, doesn't give such offense. He is popular. Even the world respects and loves Billy Graham.
In Luke 6:22 we are given the same message: "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake." Does that sound like unity? Does that sound like all men coming together? No, this doctrine of the charismatics is only paving the way for the
anti-Christ, so that when he comes and speaks, all will come unto him.We need not be grim in our persecution, however. Verse 23 says: "Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets."
Verse 26 gives another warning to those who strive for popularity and respect: "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." This doctrine of unity is the doctrine of the false prophets. When a man is highly esteemed among all men and spoken well of, he is a false prophet. He is saying something pleasing to
the flesh, and people love it.
The charismatic doctrine of Christianizing the world leads them to preach about a coming worldwide revival. They talk about a latter-day rain that is going to sweep all men to Jesus Christ. But the Bible says straight is the gate and few there be that enter therein. Few there be. Most people follow the broad way to destruction. Matthew 24:4-5: "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying I am Christ; and shall deceive many." Verse 9: "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake." Does this sound like a great revival? Quite the opposite. The end times will be a time of falling away, not the gathering in of Gods. Verses 21-22: "For then shall he great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved."
Another doctrine the charismatics push -- another that is pleasing to the flesh-is that God is a good God. You hear only about his goodness, never about his wrath, chastisement, or judgment. If you were to suggest that God disciplines His children and allows things to happen to bring them to their knees, they would call you a heretic. They say all good things come from God and anything that makes you suffer comes from the devil.
But listen to Hebrews 12:6-8: "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons."
Many, many scriptures the charismatics ignore in their talk about a good God. Jesus didn't come to please the world but to turn it upside down: "For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind" (John 9:39). Suffering is considered evil in the charismatic church, but listen to Philippians 3:10:
"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." Again in II Timothy 3:12: "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." God's goodness does not preclude his allowing us to suffer.
I have seen firsthand the troubling ramifications of these false doctrines. Next month I will draw on my personal experience to further elaborate on the many dangers of the charismatic movement.
At age 22, I got baptized with the Holy Ghost and faced rejection from my Mennonite church. So I went to a charismatic Church. They talked about the baptism and showed all the evidences of being filled with the Holy Spirit, yet many things I had to question. If they were so led by the Holy Spirit, why were women singing in mini-skirts? Why were men hugging women and women hugging men? Why all the looseness, the talking, and the jesting?
In II Thessalonians 2:4 Paul further describes the falling away of the last times: "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." This is exactly what the charismatics are doing. They exalt themselves and ignore the command to "Be ye holy as I am holy."
Through suffering Jesus learned obedience, and he made it clear we will he made perfect in the same way. We are called to humble ourselves and die to our flesh, but they talk about blessings and prosperity. In so doing they "exalt themselves above all that is called God."
In the same fashion, Lucifer tried to exalt his throne above God's, enticing a third of the angels to join him. In his self exaltation he was "showing himself that he is God." He has brought into the church the same deception he used on his fellow angels. Paul warned in Acts to "Beware, for there shall be wolves that shall come in from amongst you." He wasn't talking
about Hari Krishnas and Buddhists, but about deceived Christians practicing the deception of Lucifer.
Paul continues in II Thessalonians 2:5: "And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way."
I believe this verse is talking about the Holy Ghost. Satan cannot deceive us as long as we have the Holy Ghost within us, because the Spirit leads us into all truth, as Jesus said. So if the Holy Ghost indwells us, He is always checking and warning us, as was my experience when I walked into the charismatic church and saw that things weren't quite right. The Spirit was
warning, warning, warning: "This isn't right! This isn't God!" And the Spirit will continue to warn us "until he be taken out of the way" -- until we deny His warning and pursue the evil laid before us.
That's why some people in the charismatic movement are completely given over. They have blasphemed the Holy Ghost and denied his warning. They have not hearkened to the Spirits calling and have decided to embrace the devil's deception that they can be as God and can exalt themselves above God's throne. So they have received another spirit and no longer have the Spirit of God.
Verses 8-9: "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the Brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the workings of satan with all power and signs and lying wonders...."
This is a clear description of the charismatic movement, which is deceptive precisely because of its "power and signs and lying wonders." People get healed and receive supernatural experiences. There is power in this thing and they are taken by the power. I am thankful today that many of the things I named and claimed, confessed and sought after, never came to pass. If they had I might still he in the movement.
In Pharaoh's court, Moses and Aaron cast a staff on the ground and it became a serpent. But so did the devil's men--the magicians' staffs became serpents also. The men of God put their rod over the water, and the water turned to blood. Put then satan's men turned the water to blood as well. The devil was matching God miracle for miracle. He had power.
Finally the men of God called the dust of the earth into lice, and the magicians tried to do it but could not. They told Pharaoh that this was nothing less than the finger of God, because they couldn't do it. They realized that God's power was greater than theirs. The Bible says, "Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world."
The Holy Ghost is greater than the devil, but the devil still has much power, and if we give ourselves over to him he will deceive us, as verse 10 says: "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might he saved." Though the Holy Ghost warns those caught up in deception, they willfully
deny the truth. They begin to overlook holiness, and ditch the covering. They get into television right away and then into sports and so on. Because they have received another spirit, they deny the Holy Spirit.
I Peter 4:18 says, "And if the righteous scarcely he saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" Even the righteous can scarcely make it. How many times did we just about fall into temptation? How many times were we
almost deceived beyond return? How many times were we to the point of being destroyed by satan? If we continue to abide in the Holy Ghost moment by moment, when satan wants to bring us over the edge, the Holy Ghost saves us. But those who won't receive the love of the truth are not saved. When the Holy Ghost warns them, "Don't go after that. Don't touch it. It's wrong. It's not holy", they go after it anyway.
Watch what happens when people deny the Holy Spirit in 11 'Thessalonians 2:11: "And for this cause (the cause that they don't love the truth) God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might he damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." God will send them strong delusion. The word "strong" in
the Greek is where we get our word "energy". It suggests a power that keeps working and working and working. The lights over our heads continue giving light because they constantly pull energy. God will give those who don't love the truth an energetic and constantly working delusion, or deception.They will believe they are serving God.
Remember the passage in Matthew 7: In the last day many will say, "Lord, Lord, did we not in your name cast out devils and do many wonderful works?" Yet God will answer, "Depart from me. I never knew you." Jesus wasn't talking about the Mennonites, the Baptists, or the Methodists. They don't believe in casting out devils and doing many wonderful works. He was talking about the charismatics. They're the ones who are full of the gifts of God, but they are heeding another spirit. God will give them over to a strong delusion that they should believe a lie and he damned, because they would not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.
I left the Mennonite church in rebellion and anger because of how they mistreated what God had given me, the gift of the Holy Ghost. So I entered the charismatic church with a combination of anger and rebellion and rejection-and a wide-open heart. This is the very combination of emotions that most people have when they enter, and it makes them vulnerable to
deception. Their own church family has rejected their experience of tongues, and another church, the charismatic church, has its arms open wide and says, "Hey, we've got it. Whatever you want, we've got it."
I was in this church a couple of months when an altar call was given for those who felt they had a call of God on their life and wanted to consecrate themselves before the Lord. I went forward. As I was standing at the alter,
meditating before the Lord and seeking him with the sincerity of my heart, I suddenly felt the pastor's hands come on my head, and just as quickly I felt someone catching me and laying me on the floor.
Something put me on that floor. He didn't push me. All I felt was the light touch of his hands. I lay there not knowing what to do. I wasn't out; nor was I in some aurora or some state somewhere. I just lay there wondering what to do next.
I Timothy 5:22 says to "Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither he partaker of other mens sins: keep thyself pure." I am very careful today about who lays hands on me and who I lay hands on. I believe this scripture is talking partly about laying hands on someone and ordaining him into the ministry. Don't do it suddenly. Don't become a partaker of his sins. Keep yourself
pure. But I also believe it's talking about when you lay hands on others as a ministry. Jesus said to go into all the world and lay hands on the sick. And when the early followers prayed for others to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost they laid hands on them. In Acts 6 they laid hands to ordain deacons. There is something powerful about the laying on of hands, a
spiritual authority that God recognizes and, I believe, the spirit realm recognizes as well.
I believe the day that pastor laid hands on me I received the spirit he was working under. Through that experience I began walking in deception, and it wasn't until a man stood up and preached against the charismatic movement that I finally saw my deception and repented of my sins. When I repented the veil was lifted from me.
I then renounced that man and his laying of hands on me. Brother Wayne has preached on witchcraft and the need to renounce such evil; I believe the same is true concerning the false spirits of the charismatic movement. If you have received a false laying on of hands, or have walked in that power, it needs to he renounced. If a weight or burden is holding you back and restricting you from being what God wants you to be, it might be that you were involved with such evil powers and never renounced them. Let the blood of Jesus break that chain that wants to hold you captive.
In the charismatic movement there is constant emphasis on gifts and power. There is excitement and lots of action. On Sunday people are in ecstasy and flying higher than a kite. But many hit bottom on Monday. They live a roller coaster of emotions, because they are promised one thing, and they confess it and claim it, yet it doesn't come to pass.
In contrast, when a person walks full of God and knows joy unspeakable and full of glory, peace that passes all understanding, and life "more abundantly," he will discern the shallowness and emptiness of the charismatic experience. He will meet charismatics and see that though they have a boldness and a speech, inside they are empty. Paul describes it as a
"tinkling bell and a sounding cymbal." They claim all the gifts and all the power, but they don't really know God. "Depart from me; I never knew you," God will say.
How do we deal with those in the charismatic movement?
First, we need to reach those who are reachable. Thank God somebody reached out to me! I have no right to stand where I stand today. Absolutely no right. I was deceived. I was a preacher in the movement and given to the doctrine. One day we had a tent meeting and the evangelist preached against a thing I had been involved in. As the host pastor, I sat on the platform and hung my head, realizing I was wrong. I decided to turn from my sin, and I knew I would have to repent in front of the whole church and ask their forgiveness. I knew, too, I was going to have to repent before my parents and parents-in-law. The day I did that the veil was lifted from my eyes. I finally could preach from the whole Bible. I saw things I never saw before. I was taken out of bondage.
Many others in the movement need escape from their bondage. They have eternal souls that need to be reached. We don't need to speak evil against them or mock and laugh at them. Nor should we turn up our noses and think we are really special because we are not like them. They are people who need Jesus, a true deliverance in their life. They need somebody who's willing to go to them and, under the anointing of God's Spirit, live a life that's full of God. Our gossiping or holier-than-thou attitude won't carry the Spirit of God.
When I was in the charismatic church and felt the call to preach, I began to look through the popular Charisma magazine. 'Today I wouldn't read that thing for anything; it's full of the doctrines of devils. But I began to look there for Bible schools and sent off to several for information. I heard back from Ramah Bible Institute in Tulsa, whose literature makes a great fuss about Kenneth Hagin. I filled out the application fully intending to leave the farm and go there. The form sat on my desk for a month, but I just couldn't send it. Then I heard that the church we had just begun attending held Bible school through satellite from the Word of Faith ministry with Bob Tilton. I decided to get my education there instead of Ramah. But that very winter they canceled it. Time after time God saved me from going through such an education. There are others in the movement that
God is protecting and we need to help bring them out of their deception.
After my repentance I stood up in the church I was pastoring and said there would he no more Christian rock 'n roll. I had visited a worship center were they advocated Christian rock 'n roll or rather (religious rock 'n roll). There was a lot of power in that church of 3000 members. Many people who get converted and seek the baptism of the Holy Ghost end up there.
So I have people I love who are in the movement all the way, bitten by that charismatic serpent. I am profoundly moved when I think that I should be where they are. I very nearly went to the same school as their pastor. It's only the mercy of God that opened my eyes to come hack to holiness and truth and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I don't know if you realize just how dangerous the charismatic deception is. It's something that could very well come into our midst and split us apart. It would tear our hearts to see sons and daughters and mothers and fathers sucked into it. Don't think that we are immune to it. It has deceived others just like us, and it has deceived people full of the Holy Ghost.
We need to have the five-fold ministry functioning in our midst. We need to have the true teaching of God, the true power of God, and the prophet of God who comes in among us and stands up and says what God is doing. And it comes back to this simplicity: in the moment that we hear, that's the moment to repent. We must remain pure and holy before God. (February, March, April, May of 1997)
BibelSvar: Strange fire
| FAKE Holy Ghost - By Jawahar Peter |
| False doctrines smells bad - Strange fire |
| FALSE GOSPEL |
| FALSE PREACHERS |
| FALSE TEACHERS AND PROPHETS |
| Flaming Sword - truth is inextricably intertwined ... |
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